UK body recommends Pfizer’s quit smoking drug

In its final appraisal determination, NICE concluded that Champix (varenicline) was “superior to NRT (nicotine replacement therapy) and bupropion in achieving continuous abstinence” and that its use in smoking cessation was “likely to be a cost-effective use of National Health Service resources.”

Champix, the first new prescription aid to smoking cessation treatment in nearly a decade, targets the specific receptor to which nicotine binds. Champix is believed to work by reducing the severity of the smoker’s urge to smoke.

The medication, varenicline, with trade name Chantix in the US, received FDA approval as an aid to smoking cessation in May 2006.

Smoking, the leading cause of preventable death, is responsible for five million deaths worldwide each year. By 2010, the World Health Organization estimates the annual global cost of tobacco-related illness to be approximately $500 billion.